


It Seems it Has to Be You

by skypirateb



Category: Greek and Roman Mythology
Genre: Comfort, Cute, F/M, Silly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-24
Updated: 2014-09-24
Packaged: 2018-02-18 15:00:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2352533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skypirateb/pseuds/skypirateb
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hades is a grump; Persephone knows how to help.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It Seems it Has to Be You

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to daasvedanya for the help with Hades' dialogue co-captain going down with this ship.

Persephone found Hades stalking down the hall, looking like a ker during peacetime and rumbling like an offensive baseline. She giggled at the sight of his cape flapping menacingly behind him, and continued giggling as she skipped up beside him. 

“Somebody sounds grumpy this afternoon!” she chirped. Hades grunted in response. She slipped her hand delicately through the crook of his arm. He glanced down at her, but Persephone noticed that he made no move to pull away. She grinned back at him. “What’s wrong, Uncle?”

“Don’t call me ‘uncle’,” he growled, treating her to what Hecate had termed his S-level Doom Scowl. Persephone giggled again. 

“Ungrum... Grun... Gruncle... Grumple.”

Hades was sufficiently confused by the random string of sounds coming out of his wife’s mouth that his scowl was downgraded several levels. “What?”

“Grumple!” she said. “Because you’re a grumpy uncle!”

“Oh my gods.”

She tugged his arm. “Let’s go for walkies.”

“… _What_.”

“C’mon!” She started pulling him in the direction of the gardens. 

“I am not a _dog_ , Persephone,” Hades protested, nevertheless allowing her to lead him out of the palace. She paused at the top of the half-dozen steps that lead down to the grounds. “…I’m serious,” he said. Persephone squeezed his arm and rested her head against his shoulder. Hades sighed heavily. They walked down the stairs together, Persephone humming to herself. Hades shot a suspicious look at her. If she noticed, her only response was to nuzzle her cheek against his shoulder and do an uncanny impression of his grumbling. Hades narrowed his eyes further. “Are you mocking me?” 

“Oh my gods, _never_!” 

Hades gaped at her. “You are!” 

“Let’s go this way!” Persephone interrupted his offended muttering by dragging him down a small pathway that twisted whimsically around the outskirts of the garden. Hades nearly tripped over his feet. Still, he was relieved she had chosen this particular path. There was only room for two abreast, and he had no interest in being interrupted. 

They walked in silence for a quarter of a mile. Persephone rubbed her hand gently back and forth over his biceps as they walked. Hades couldn’t quite tell if she was doing it as a comforting gesture or if it was because she kind of had a thing about feeling his biceps. Perhaps both? He was about to ask her when she spoke first.

“So why are you grumbly?” she asked. 

Hades scowled. “Because people are idiots.”

Persephone gasped. “Oh my gods, am _I_ an idiot?”

Hades screwed up his nose at her. “You are not people, my dear.” Persephone stuck her bottom lip out in a pout that would have rivaled that of an excessively aggrieved toddler. Hades raised an eyebrow at her. “What?” Persephone made a whining noise. “Oh my gods, _what are you whining at me for_?”

“I love yoooooou!”

Hades spluttered unintelligibly before he was able to answer. “And I you! That is not the issue here!”

“Why are people idiots?” she said, her tone changing abruptly.

“Because they are!”

“Like who?”

Hades scowled again, looking away from her. “Mortals. _Zeus_. As _usual_.” Persephone giggled. At the sound, Hades softened slightly in spite of himself. He peered at her cautiously out of the corner of his eye. Her laugh really did light up her whole face. If he looked long enough it might be enough to clear his bad mood away, but he didn’t want that. He was angry, dammit. “Why are you laughing,” he sighed.

“Because of you,” she said fondly.

“This isn’t a laughing matter! It’s incredibly frustrating!” 

Persephone made soothing noises as she rubbed his arm more. “It’s okay, baby, let it all out before you give yourself an ulcer.” 

“I am a patient and just and _fair_ god, Persephone, but I am not a pushover!”

Persephone cuddled his arm. “Except when it comes to your lovely, charming, perfect wife, of course.”

Hades looked down at her. “Well, of course,” he conceded, fractionally mollified. “But honestly. The way they talk, you would think that they thought that I was one of those djinn.”

“What do they want from you?” Persephone paused to pick a blossom the size of a small apple that was hanging over the path. Hades watched her tug at the stem gently and run her finger over the small wound it left on the branch. 

“The usual things,” he grumbled. “Status changes, promises to protect their loved ones, dead loved ones back in the mortal world, etcetera, etcetera…”

Persephone twirled the stem of the flower between her thumb and forefinger. “They don’t know the one rule.”

Hades raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

“’No-one may leave’.”

“Ah.” Hades shifted uncomfortably. Why did she always have to mimic his voice when she said that? “I mean, of course not.”

Persephone looked up at him with an impish grin. “Except me.”

A lopsided smile tugged at the corner of Hades’ mouth before he could stop it. “Except you.”

“I’m special.”

“Indeed.” They started meandering along the pathway again. “And anyway, you always come back. They _never_ want to come back.” He frowned deeply. “They were being very tiring and frustrating.”

“Poor babyyy.” He screwed up his nose as she dragged the flower petals over his cheek. Persephone laughed and tucked the flower behind her ear. “So, what about Dad?”

A look darker than any stormy night descended over Hades’ features. “He sent me… a _letter_.” 

Persephone gasped. “Oh, my gods, how dare he.”

“I KNOW.” He ignored Persephone’s laughing. “It was all… arrogant and ridiculous.”

“Plot twist of the century,” Persephone said sarcastically. 

“Making demands and asking questions and _bothering me_.” He gave a deep, battle-weary sigh. “You know there’s a _meeting_ coming up as well?”

“Is it that time of year already?”

“It’s _always_ that time of year.”

Persephone gave a wicked giggle. “When we can go up to Olympus and then sneak off to some dark little corner.”

“Persephone, if I skip another meeting because of you behaving like a minx, I won’t hear the end of it for three thousand years.”

She screwed up her nose at him, which he had to admit was painfully adorable. “We can do it after the meeting!”

“You know how Hera will nag if we miss dinner.” Hades huffed. 

“She like, always nags, though.”

“How very true.”

“Hey, hey.” Persephone bounced as she spoke, jerking his arm in its socket. “Kiss me!” Hades stopped walking and obeyed immediately. It was a short, chaste kiss, and Persephone was giggling like a naughty teenager, but it helped immensely. He shifted to wrap his arms around her waist and touched his forehead to hers.

“Kissing you always makes everything better,” he confessed. Grinning, Persephone flung both of her arms around his neck. 

“I know!”

“…But I I still have to respond to _Zeus_. _Ugh_.” 

“I’ll write it!” Persephone said brightly. Hades blinked.

“What? No. Why?”

“I wanna help!” 

Hades sighed softly. “No, I should take responsibility because… king… lord… something…”

“Because of reasons,” she supplied helpfully. “Okay then, why not you write it and I check it?”

Hades stared at her. “I know how to write a letter, Persephone.”

“Yeah, but you have to be like, diplomatic!”

“I can be diplomatic!”

Persephone raised her eyebrows so high they disappeared under her fringe. “Not with Dad.” All Hades could do was gape at her. “It’s true!” she said.

“I can be very diplomatic! Even with him!”

“Your idea of keeping it diplomatic with Dad is the same thing as behaving like a passive aggressive fifteen year old who’s having a bad week.”

“That is not true in the _least_. I don’t curse _nearly_ as much as a fifteen year old.” Persephone snorted. “But,” he continued quickly, loathe to be subjected to more unjustified teasing, “I suppose if you wish, you can read it. To check for any errors.”

Persephone grinned. “Good. And I can help you with the report for the Council meeting as well, if you like.”

Hades raised an eyebrow at her. “Really? Aren’t you usually the one trying to avoid the tedious desk work?” Persephone shrugged.

“I mean, if I’m the queen, I should probably be involved in getting together a report about the whole Underworld, right?” 

“I suppose.”

Persephone jiggled on the balls of her feet, a pout starting to show on her lips again. “C’mon I wanna help and be a proper queenly queen!”

“A _what_?”

“A queenly queen!”

“Good grief. Well, I said you can read the letter. And… I _would_ appreciate any help with the end of year report. So you can be a very helpful queenly queen.”

Persephone smiled up at him. For once, it wasn’t teasing or mischievous, but full of warmth and affection. “Good,” she said, and kissed the tip of his nose. “I love you.”

Hades only grumbled a little before answering. “I love you, too.” He kissed the top of her head. “People are still imbeciles, though,” he said, and muffled the sound of her laughing by hugging her against his chest.


End file.
